[ For a second he almost teasingly asks just how many Deer Sylvain's used to being outnumbered by if there's some other situation where that's happened, but that feels too close to peeling away the veneer of not thinking of Fodlan. What's come to pass for him, what might for Sylvain at some point, what will with certainty for Hilda - and for those of their friends who aren't here any longer, and all of it adds up to an ever present knot somewhere in Claude's chest he can never quite ignore.
It feels enough to set the carved deer king where it goes on this board. A tangible reminder of what wouldn't have been possible anywhere but here in a way that's easy enough to muse upon without thinking too much deeper about it - until Sylvain takes it there.
The casualness in it belies something else which makes his blood run cold in his veins for an instant with all the effect of being dunked into ice water when not expecting it. As much as he should keep his eyes on the board, Claude finds his gaze wrenched off it to look at the man across from him. By some miracle his expression remains unchanged - he's pretty sure - even as the reality of that sets in followed by the bitter follow up that there was no way for that to happen in what he'd lived. Was there? If he'd sent a message to Faerghus's last defenders - what good would it have done? Claude thinks faintly of a conversation from long ago where Sylvain wondered if he'd been responsible for dispatching a messenger sent by the Kingdom. ]
It's good to know I was consistent in making the Alliance look far more stable than it was. [ A safe enough statement to start with as he looks pointedly back to the chessboard because that feels - better, even if it's not by much. ] Not sure that would've worked out so well for you considering what happened to Derdriu when Teach wasn't on our side.
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It feels enough to set the carved deer king where it goes on this board. A tangible reminder of what wouldn't have been possible anywhere but here in a way that's easy enough to muse upon without thinking too much deeper about it - until Sylvain takes it there.
The casualness in it belies something else which makes his blood run cold in his veins for an instant with all the effect of being dunked into ice water when not expecting it. As much as he should keep his eyes on the board, Claude finds his gaze wrenched off it to look at the man across from him. By some miracle his expression remains unchanged - he's pretty sure - even as the reality of that sets in followed by the bitter follow up that there was no way for that to happen in what he'd lived. Was there? If he'd sent a message to Faerghus's last defenders - what good would it have done? Claude thinks faintly of a conversation from long ago where Sylvain wondered if he'd been responsible for dispatching a messenger sent by the Kingdom. ]
It's good to know I was consistent in making the Alliance look far more stable than it was. [ A safe enough statement to start with as he looks pointedly back to the chessboard because that feels - better, even if it's not by much. ] Not sure that would've worked out so well for you considering what happened to Derdriu when Teach wasn't on our side.